NOT APPLICABLE
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to disk drive suspensions, and more particularly to a two-piece mount system for attaching a load beam to the arm of an actuator. The invention mount plate is reduced in area, mass and by up to one-half in plate height, but is supported by a separately formed additional support member that connects the smaller area mount to the greater area load beam base. The added support member thickness absorbs the mount plate thickness and thus does not increase overall the height of the mount system, but does provide the needed rigidity in the system.
2. Related Art
Mount plates for attaching load beams to actuator arms are known, but old designs do not provide a sufficiently lowered profile for today""s compact disk drives, and have excessive mass. Thin mounts lose rigidity and are difficult to handle in manufacturing operations. A reduction in mount height enables closer spacing of the head gimbal assemblies, but such height reduction cannot come at the price of loss of stiffness needed for handling the mount or inadequate rigidity in use.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved mount for load beam attachment to an actuator arm. It is a further object to provide a reduced height and reduced area mount that will have fewer flatness problems. It is a further object to provide a two-piece mount system in which the smaller mount plate is combined for functional and height purposes with a contoured support member offsetting any thinness-engendered problems in the mount plate or the load beam base portion.
These and other objects of the invention, to become apparent hereinafter are realized in a two-piece load beam mounting system for supporting a load beam in operating proximity to a disk, the load beam having a base portion of predetermined lateral and longitudinal dimensions, the mounting system comprising a mount having a plate and a central boss, the mount plate having lateral and longitudinal dimensions less than the base portion corresponding dimensions, and a support having lateral and longitudinal dimensions to register with the base portion, the support being sandwiched between the mount and the load beam base portion in attached relation to each, the support and mount plate cooperating to have their combined height no greater than the height of the support.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the support is weld-attached to the base portion and mount plate.
In a first embodiment, the load beam base portion has single thickness left and right longitudinally extended shoulders, the support having a single thickness except for a recess sized to bodily receive the mount plate on one face of the support and a longitudinally extended relief opposite each base portion shoulder, each relief receiving the opposed shoulder in mounting system height reducing relation. In this embodiment, preferably, the mount plate has a thickness of about 0.004 inch, the support between the mount plate and the load beam base portion has a thickness of about 0.002 inch and opposite the shoulders a thickness of about 0.001 inch, the base portion having a thickness of about 0.002 inch at its the shoulders.
In a second embodiment of the invention the mount plate has a single thickness, the support has a single thickness, except for a recess sized to bodily receive the mount plate, and the load beam base portion has a single thickness. Preferably, the mount plate has a thickness of about 0.004 inch, the support between the mount plate and the load beam base portion has a thickness of about 0.002 inch and the base portion has a thickness of about 0.002 inch.
In a third embodiment, the load beam base portion has a single thickness except for a :central longitudinal channel between left and right longitudinally extended shoulders, the shoulders being joined by a web forming the bottom of the channel, the support having a single thickness except for a recess sized to bodily receive the mount plate on one face of the support and a longitudinally extended relief opposite each base portion shoulder, each relief receiving the opposed shoulder in mounting system height reducing relation. In this embodiment,: preferably, the mounting plate has a thickness of about 0.004 inch, the support between the mounting plate and the load beam base portion has a thickness of about 0.002 inch and opposite the shoulders a thickness of about 0.001 inch, the base portion having a thickness of about 0.002 inch at its the shoulders and the web a thickness of about 0.001 inch between the shoulder and opposite the mount plate.
The several two-piece mount embodiments are provided in combination with a load beam having the base portion.
The invention further provides a disk drive suspension comprising a load beam having a base portion of predetermined dimensions including a certain height, a two-piece mount comprising a first member and a second member, the first member comprising a boss that is swageable to an actuator arm opening, and a plate supporting the boss, the plate being planar and of predetermined dimensions including lateral and longitudinal extents providing first and second plate faces and a thickness between the faces such that the plate has insufficient stiffness for the first member to be the sole mount for the load beam; the mount second member comprising a support of predetermined lateral and longitudinal extents greater than the corresponding lateral and longitudinal extents of said plate and providing first and second support faces on the support, the support face abutting the plate first or second face, the support having a certain thickness such that the plate and the support plate taken together have sufficient thickness to define a the mount for the load beam.